Sacramento pastor represented his faith, Latino identity in Super Bowl wedding
Sacramento resident Antonio Reyes got the opportunity of a lifetime when he was asked to be part of arguably the biggest wedding of the year.
The south Sacramento pastor officiated a wedding live on the Super Bowl halftime show stage, where Bad Bunny headlined a colorful show celebrating Latino culture on Feb. 8.
In the middle of the 13-minute performance, a scene depicted a wedding between a young couple, witnessed by dozens of performers and Bad Bunny himself. Reyes stood at the center, framed between the bride and groom, where he married the pair.
“It was a very unique experience in my life to be able to be part of such a monumental moment,” Reyes said. “As a Mexican, to me, it was important to represent my people and my family. As a pastor and as a follower of Jesus, it was a very important moment to be present.”
The pastor has been at Sacramento’s Project Church, which has multiple campuses around the region, giving sermons in Spanish and English at its south Sacramento location for just over a year. Though born in the U.S., Reyes lived in Mexico until he was 18. When he returned, Reyes initially lived in Vacaville, then moved to Los Angeles for a time before settling in the Sacramento area.
Bringing wedding bells to the Bowl
Through a friend in the music industry from Los Angeles, Reyes was asked to officiate a wedding in Spanish only weeks before the Bowl, and he initially had no idea what he was signing up for. When he received the non-disclosure agreement contract, he asked his wife, Gabby Reyes, to read it with him.
Gabby Reyes said she screamed and fell to the floor upon reading “Super Bowl” and “Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio,” Bad Bunny’s real name.
“Being a part of something so big and cool and epic, it was awesome,” she said. “I was so excited for (my husband). I lived the experience through him, and it was great.”
With only about a month before the Super Bowl, Reyes couldn’t do much other than wait. Due to his non-disclosure agreements, Reyes was only able to tell his wife and his bosses — as he had to take Super Bowl Sunday off from his usual services.
Reyes arrived in Santa Clara for rehearsals a week before the big game, and he said the whole process was very smooth, despite it being his and the couple’s first time in that environment.
“The producers were great and loving and kind,” Reyes said. “They coached us through it, to not look like fools on TV. It was a beautiful experience.”
After weeks of anticipation, the nerves and emotions finally hit Reyes. He said the gravity of the situation hit him when he stepped out through the tunnel and onto the field Sunday evening. But he still had a job to do, so he focused on the words he wrote on his hands, pronouncing the couple married.
“I was telling the couple, I was like, ‘Listen, just look at me, I’ll look at you, let’s be together.’” Reyes said. “I sensed that they were also a little overwhelmed and emotional, so it was like, let’s just support each other in this moment.”
Ahead of the public ceremony on the football field, Reyes held a more intimate, private ceremony with the couple, he said. The pastor still keeps in touch with the happy newlyweds.
“We became family right away,” he said. “It didn’t feel like it was strangers anymore. I felt like I was doing a ceremony for friends, so it was beautiful.”
Representing Latinidad on a major stage
As an immigrant from Mexico, Reyes said he felt privileged to represent his heritage, his faith and his community.
“The most meaningful things are the small things, you know, the kid in the party (halftime show scene) sleeping on the chairs,” Reyes said. “The nuances of those things, to me ... makes me emotional because it’s representation of who we are. If you’re not Latino, you don’t understand those things.”
The reception from the Project Church congregation has been mostly positive in the days since. Though it is not usual for a religious leader to be included in a concert that includes provocative lyrics and dance moves, Reyes said he had faith that his community trusted him to uphold his responsibilities as a pastor.
“It’s been beautiful to be able to see a lot of my people celebrating and encouraging me,” he said.
One of Reyes’s personal friends from high school visited him to share his congratulations in the days following his big role.
“He got very emotional right away, and he told me, ‘My daughters are proud of me because of you,’” Reyes said. “To me, that was part of the goal, representing other people who would be able to see themselves through me, and as a pastor as well.”
Gabby Reyes said she was not able to attend the Super Bowl in person because of her work duties, but she watched at home with her family, who had the surprise of a lifetime.
“They were very excited and emotional,” she said.
Though the Reyeses said Bad Bunny isn’t exactly their music style, they both said “DtMF” — the titular track of the artist’s recent DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS album — is their favorite song. As for musical guest Ricky Martin, who sang “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii” during the halftime show, the pastor has strong feelings on his favorite song.
“My favorite song that he has is the World Cup 1998 song (La Copa De La Vida),” Reyes said. “That is my favorite song by far ... I wanted to be a soccer player and that was the first World Cup that I remember watching.”
This story was originally published February 12, 2026 at 7:00 AM.
.jpg)